


Treading Water

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Pre-White House (West Wing)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-05-07
Updated: 2004-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-30 10:05:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15094472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: CJ learns to swim





	Treading Water

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  


**Treading Water**

**by:** keladryb

**Character(s):** CJ  
**Pairing(s):** None  
**Category(s):** Pre-White House  
**Rating:** CHILD  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own them.  If I did, I'd be rich.  
**Summary:** CJlearns to swim  
**Spoiler:** None  
**Written:** April, 2004  
**Feedback:** Cherished.  
**Author's Note:**   For 15minuteficlets, inspired by the word "deeper".  Written and edited in 15 minutes.

She remembers when she was four her five and her older brothers tried to teach her to swim. She was hopeless at it, all arms and legs jutting out at awkward angles. Eventually, Jeremy got sick of watching her feet touch the bottom of the pool. He called her over to him, hugged her, told her that maybe she should wait until she was a little older to try this, until she was a little less of a klutz. Then he pushed her into the deep end.   
  
At first, she thought she was drowning, as the water filled her nose, her mouth, maybe even a bit of her lungs. She beat her arms and kicked her legs frantically against the water, and suddenly her head popped through the top and she could breathe again, but only for a moment because the shock of the air hitting her lungs was enough to still her arms and legs and she was sinking back down. Again, she flailed against the water and popped up, but this time, she kept moving.  
  
She wasn't swimming, but she was treading water, and her brothers were cheering. Slowly, she managed to turn that treading water into an awkward doggy-paddle, and after what felt like eons, she reached the edge of the pool.  
  
She had never been so grateful to feel her hands scrape against concrete in her life. Her brothers were laughing and giving each other high-fives, as though they had somehow accomplished something. Breathless, she dragged herself out of the water, scraping her thigh a little on the edge of the pool. She moved to give Jeremy a hug, but instead threw him with all her might backwards into the pool. Michael laughed and laughed, while Jeremy sputtered in surprise.  
  
Michael dove in, his body arching elegantly in the air. C.J. thought it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and wanted desperately to learn, but something told her that Michael and Jeremy might not be the best teachers. Forty years later, she still can't dive, but she can swim, and she can tread water, and somehow, she keeps ending up in the deep end when she never wanted to be in the water to begin with.


End file.
